The 20th annual Culture Shock festival went down at SUNY Puchase from April 27-28. Day 1 (4/27) kicked off with the Stooges-meets-Jesus Lizard punk of Pissed Jeans, followed by California rapper Casey Veggies, who played SOBs a few days earlier. Day 1 of main stage wrapped up with an entrancing live-band IDM set from Tycho followed by Islands, both of whom played unexpected, crowd-demanded encores. Afterwards, Big Freedia packed Purchase's student center (The Stood) for an ass-shakin' afterparty, complete with nonstop dancing both on and off stage, and one of the biggest/craziest shows The Stood has seen in years.

Day 2 began with Cleveland rockers Cloud Nothings, who played almost the entirety of their powerful January LP Attack on Memory. Up next were two completely opposite sides of the folk spectrum; the foot-stomping Felice Brothers and the melancholic, distortion-drenched EMA. Day 2 ended with a headlining set from Idle Warship, the project of Talib Kweli and Res in full rock band mode. Idle Warship drew the largest crowd of the entire fest, and delivered an unfaltering set of Idle Warship originals, Talib classics, and a few covers (including the Stooges' "Search and Destroy").

Cold Cave aren't the only big indie band playing a NYC museum tonight. As you can see from the above tweet, EMA has scneduled a last minute, free show at the Whitney Museum, happening at 7ish TONIGHT (4/27). EMA recently scheduled a lst minute trip to NY to play Culture Shock which begins today at SUNY Purchase. Check out the full schedule below...

Tycho (aka Scott Hansen) whose lasttwo trips to NYC brought him to Music Hall of Williamsburg, will be touring again this spring/summer culminating in a larger NYC show at Webster Hall on July 14, one day after he plays Camp Bisco.. Tickets for the NYC show are on AmEx presale now and go on sale to the general public on Friday (4/20) at noon. All dates are listed below.

Meanwhile, Tycho will be in the NYC-area later this month for SUNY Purchase Culture Shock, which is technically only open to students and their guests, and which recently announced that EMAreplaced Grimes who cancelled. The full lineup also includes Islands, Idle Warship,Big Feedia, The Felice Brothers, Cloud Nothings, Casey Veggies, Pissed Jeans, and Bio Ritmo.

Tycho's most recent single, "Dive," off the 2011 album of the same name, was recently remixed by Memoryhouse. Grab that remix above or stream it below. The Zombies-covering Memoryhouse will be in Brooklyn this Saturday (4/21) for a show at Public Assembly with Mattheah Baim and Ex Cops. Tickets are still avialable.

Back in April, R. Stevie Moore hosted and performed at SUNY Purchase Culture Shock 2011. His set was easily the most anticipated performance of the entire festival. Looking around the audience, I could see by the expressions on people's faces that many were watching one of their heroes perform, and even more had no idea what they were watching. Nevertheless, everyone there was digging the experience of R. Stevie Moore's confidently quirky repertoire. It was clear from Moore's on-stage demeanor that he couldn't have been happier to be performing these songs too. Pictures from that show are in this post.

That Bell House show is tonight (5/20). Tickets are still available to it and the Maxwell's show. Since we wrote that, Culture Shock happened, and Real Estate were also announced on the lineup of a big free show with the Feelies this summer, and B.O.M.B. Fest in CT which happens next week. All dates, and pictures from their Culture Shock set, below...

If you aren't making the trek up to B.O.M.B. Fest to see Woods over Memorial Day Weekend, no worries. Woods will be back as part of a month-long North American tour that kicks off in middle July. All dates are listed below.

But first, you can also catch Woods in June in a Brooklyn church as part of the Northside Festival. The previously announced show also now includes Ed Askew and Magik Markers on the bill and is still on sale (flyer below). On August 13th look for the band at Bowery Ballroom with Ducktails (mem Real Estate) and White Fence (their second recent show together). Tickets for the NYC show go on AmEx presale today at noon (5/18), and regular sale on Friday.

Woods are welcoming their new LP Sun and Shade via their own Woodsist imprint on June 14th. Look for it then or preorder it now. Stream new track "Pushing Onlys" below, and 7+minute psychedlic jam "Out of The Eye" at Pitchfork.

The Feelies, touring in support of their new album of all new material, Here Before, will also play shows in MA, PA and DC over the next few days, AND they will return to their favorite venue (my assumption) Maxwell's in Hoboken on July 1st and July 2nd. Tickets are now on sale for both (at the links). Last year they also played a show there on the 4th.

As typical as it is to talk about 'saving the best for last,' that's exactly what happened at Culture Shock 2011. Twenty minutes before the entire festival was supposed to end, post-punk legends The Feelies launched into the first song off their hour and a half long set. Their immediately dancey songs sent the frenzied audience stage diving and moshing like nothing that has ever been seen at a Feelies show. They played a large range of material, including tracks off the immortal 1980 debut Crazy Rhythms as well the newly released Here Before, and everything in between. A few shouts were heard in between songs for "Fa Ce-La," and although The Feelies consistently responded to the shouts with a different song, there wasn't a second in their set to complain about. After just over an hour of jangly masterpieces, The Feelies left the stage. Although an encore has become something you can almost always expect from a headlining band, this was one of those situations where even if The Feelies didn't plan on coming back, they couldn't have deserved it more. They did of course return, and roused the crowd with three more songs, culminating in the immensely anticipated "Fa Ce-La." Despite the expectations that come along with an encore, The Feelies still found a way to surprise us even more when they came back out for a second one.

More pictures from that show, and all tour dates (a CT show too), below...

As we've mentioned, R. Stevie Moore is hosting and performing at this year's Culture Shock at SUNY Purchase. The full lineup for the festival has been announced and is being headlined on Friday (4/15) by Cam'ron and on Saturday (4/16) by The Feelies. Other performers include A Place To Bury Strangers, Twin Sister, Beach Fossils, Screaming Females, Real Estate, Woods, Talk Normal, O'Death, Bomb the Music Industry! (performing Weezer's Blue Album), and others. The event isn't technically open to non-students. The full lineup is below.

Culture Shock is one of the few shows The Feelies are playing in support of their new album Here Before which drops April 12 via Bar/None. They also play The Bell House on May 13. Tickets are still on sale. Download the track "Should Be Gone" off the new album above.

Real Estate also has four other shows in the area coming up including April 23 at Colgate University, May 20 at The Bell House with Julian Lynch, Big Troubles and Family Portrait, May 21 at Maxwell's with Big Troubles, and they will appear at B.O.M.B. Fest at Western Connecticut State University on May 28.

The godfather of home recording, R. Stevie Moore, who recently moved back to his hometown -- Nashville, Tennessee, has announced his first ever American tour. He's coordinating the tour with Ariel Pink (who cites Moore as a friend and mentor) (though it's not clear if Ariel is playing any of the dates) and his booking agents. Moore will be backed on tour by the 3-piece band, Tropical Ooze. The cities and dates for the tour are still tentative, but R. Stevie Moore plans to start his tour in NYC on 6/19 and end in Brooklyn on 7/14. His Chicago date is 6/23 which means he won't be at the Pitchfork Festival though Ariel Pink will be. More details to come, but the full list of dates is below.

In addition to the tour, R. Stevie Moore is also performing at and hosting SUNY Purchase's annual Culture Shock Festival on April 15/16. This is the first time in Culture Shock history that the event is featuring a guest host. The full Culture Shock lineup hasn't been announced yet, but it has been announced that the side stage will be headlined by emo revivalists Algernon Cadwallder on Friday (4/15) and the breezy Long Island duo Small Black on Saturday (4/16).

Meanwhile R. Stevie Moore is working on a new album that he funded/is funding through Kickstarter. You can still donate if you want though he's already reached his goal, started recording and released a song. Listen to that song, watch his Kickstarter video and check out all dates (cities and dates only), below...

Though they're not playing Coachella this year (meaning they don't have to cancel the high profile fest like the Cribs just did), Los Campesinos! have announced that they won't get to the States in time to play SUNY Purchase's Culture Shock, also happening this weekend...

We are very sad to announce we will be unable to appear at Culture Shock Festival, Purchase NY, tomorrow. No flights out the UK. Really, really disappointed and I hope we can make it up to the promoters and attendees sometime, but this is totally out of our hands :(

USA Today reports that, "The volcano is erupting small, jagged pieces of rocks, minerals and volcanic glass the size of sand and silt into the atmosphere, according to the U.S. Geological Survey." and that the "volcano eruption could last months".

Middletown police have yet to release the name of a 22 year-old Bristol man who died when a truck he was riding in went into the Neshaminy Creek early Sunday.

Officer Dan Deacon said investigator Officer David Strother has yet to speak to the man's family and is not releasing the name.

Further details of how the accident occurred also were not available.

What police do know is that the man was in a 2002 Chevrolet pickup truck as it was traveling west on Brownsville Road when it lost control at the ridge over the creek, went over a wall and landed upside down in the water just before 2 a.m. [PhillyBurbs.com]

After canceling a November 16th performance at SUNY Purchase due to back problems, musician Dan Deacon has returned to full force. On Saturday, February 20th, the visiting alumnus played late into the night at the Stood Student Center [ed: pronounced "'st(y)ood"]. His set was jam-packed with the crowd participation he's well-known for. Turning the Stood into one massive dance party Deacon seemed at home among the current student body.

Speaking of Purchase, the 2010 edition of their annual Culture Shock Festival is reportedly set to return on April 16th & 17th. Lineup TBA.

Question: Your band has ump-teen releases this year and a googleplex of others in seven years of existence. If you are readying another release, is it really news?

Answer: It definitely is, if you consider it's only your second LP.

The band of 1000 releases is none other than T.O. hardcore dudes Fucked Up who have announced that they will release LP #2, The Chemistry Of Common Life (or "ChemCom" as the band likes to call it) on October 7th on their new label Matador Records. Both "No Epiphany" & "Royal Swan" (the MP3s above) are from ChemCom, whereas "Stress" is just for gits & shiggles. Matador will also play house with another one of those pesky Fucked Up releases - the Year Of The Pig 12" is out July 22nd. It originally reared it's ugly head over at What's Your Rupture? (though in an abbreviated, in length AND availability, form).

A new mixtape is also in the works (look for it around the same time as ChemCom) and the dudes/lady dropped a preview of it.

"I had to miss all of the bands I wanted to see, because I was sleeping in the hospital like a baby"

In related news, ex-Fucked Up (or at least songwriter for 'em) and current (?) Cursed member Chris Colohan has left the door open to more Cursed. In contrast to his previous posting, Colohan recounted the events that lead to the turmoil during their European tour and explained that Cursed is currently "a big fat fucking question mark." Well, at least thats better than "it's over".